Diddled by TV Show’s Mechanics, Couple Say

LAS VEGAS (CN) – The dream of owning a classic Ford Mustang turned into a financial headache for a couple who thought their car would be featured on the reality TV show “Counting Cars.” Now they are suing the program’s auto shop, Las Vegas-based Count’s Kustoms, to get their money back. Count’s Kustoms “have continued to fraudulently withhold” the $50,000 the couple paid for the classic car restoration and “never had any intention of delivering the vehicle by the date promised,” Jeanette and Paul Hurt claim in Clark County Court. The Hurts claim that Count’s Kustoms “knew that these misrepresentations were false and unsubstantiated and made to induce plaintiffs into paying $50,000 to Count’s Kustoms for their ‘expertise’ in building a classic vehicle.” Jeanette says she wanted to give a classic Ford Mustang to her husband, Paul, for his birthday, and they contacted Count’s Kustoms in Las Vegas to get it done in June 2013. The Hurts claim Count’s Kustoms employee Scott Jones told them the shop could purchase and rebuild a 1967 Ford Mustang Coupe for $50,000. The cost estimate they received from Jones included $11,000 to buy a “restoration vehicle” in Upstate New York and $39,000 for labor, according to the complaint. Because the rebuild would be featured on an episode of The History Channel’s “Counting Cars” show, Jones told them, another $20,000 would be provided by the TV program’s producers. The Hurts say they agreed to the $50,000 cost and awaited a “December 2013 restoration ‘reveal’ to be filmed on site in Las Vegas.” In August 2013, the Hurts say, they were told The History Channel no longer would film the restoration, but the vehicle was at the shop and work would continue as planned. They also were told that Jones no longer worked for Count’s Kustoms, according to the complaint. Jones is not a party to the lawsuit. Expecting to find their dream car restoration well under way, the Hurts visited Count’s Kustoms in October 2013. They say they found that nothing had been done. In fact, they say, the car was not the 1967 Mustang coupe they were told they were buying. It was a different model, which the Hurts learned in February 2014 would cost them $30,000 instead of the $11,000 they had been told, according to the lawsuit. Because Count’s Kustoms could not complete the job on time and used a different vehicle, the Hurts say they demanded a refund, to which Count’s Kustom’s agreed. But the refund never came, and their phone calls are “rejected or rerouted,” the Hurts claims. They Hurts demand a refund of their $50,000. They are represented by Jason J. Bach.